Ch.332[Episode 332] Reverse World – Region 3

Just one more round.

Just one more round.

“Hey, don’t you think we should stop now?”

Captain Elang looked at Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica with an exhausted expression.

This was in stark contrast to the looks of awe and admiration he had been giving them just moments ago.

The reason for Captain Elang’s exhausted expression was simple.

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica had long since passed the 35th round, yet they were still shouting for one more round.

“What are you talking about? We can still fight more.”

“Yeah, at this rate we could go all day, couldn’t we?”

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica said this while mercilessly pounding the last monster of this round with their shields.

The monster’s body shook from the impact of the shields, but their shield techniques were so excellent that it was dying while barely moving from its spot.

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica had already reached the current level cap available in the mirror world.

Even so, Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica still had plenty of energy.

Stats befitting 4-star characters.

The excellent health regeneration characteristic of tanks.

And Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica’s endless competitive spirit.

All of these combined had led to a situation where the commander, Captain Elang, was the one who became exhausted first.

“We’re just shy of round 50. Since we’ve come this far, don’t you want to get three stars?”

“Come to think of it, that’s true. At our current level, we should be able to reach round 50 without much trouble.”

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica tried once more to persuade Captain Elang.

“While many people have cleared 35 rounds, no one has cleared 50 rounds yet, right?”

“Exactly. If we do it now, wouldn’t we be the first to clear it?”

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica wanted to continue riding this feeling.

Perhaps because they hadn’t properly exercised their bodies in a long time, they were quite excited.

You know those days, right?

When you just want to keep doing something until you collapse.

That was exactly the state Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica were in.

“I don’t have iron constitutions like Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica… But being the first, huh.”

While Captain Elang grimaced at Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica’s words, he was gradually being swayed by their persuasion.

The word that made Captain Elang’s heart waver was “first.”

First clear. What a beautiful ring it had to it.

Anyone who enjoys games would understand the romance and satisfaction that comes with this word.

And Captain Elang was someone who enjoyed games.

In other words, Captain Elang’s heart was also filled with romantic notions about being “first.”

And that romance, fueled by Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica’s encouragement, began to completely dominate Captain Elang’s emotions.

“…Is being tired really an issue? We’re talking about a first-clear title! I guess we have no choice. Let’s… let’s go a little bit more, shall we?”

Captain Elang finally succumbed to Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica’s temptation.

He had been blinded by the achievement of being the first to clear 50 rounds.

“Then what are you hesitating for?”

Sir Dominic signaled to Captain Elang with a nod.

“Right. We’re ready.”

Sir Dominica raised her shield and grinned.

“Um, I’m sorry, but it’s my snack time. Can I just eat a banana, Masters?”

Alice looked at Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica with pitiful eyes.

Come to think of it, Alice didn’t have the exceptional stamina that Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica possessed.

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica looked at each other for a moment, pondering, then nodded.

“Alright. Take a break this round.”

“Want some jelly?”

Sir Dominic told Alice to go back and rest for a while, and Sir Dominica took out some jelly from her inventory and handed it to Alice.

Alice’s sulky face immediately brightened up, and she retreated to the back, munching on the jelly Sir Dominica had given her.

“…What is that?”

“When the incident happened before… Ah. I can’t talk about this.”

[There may be penalties for telling the commander about future events in advance.]

Sir Dominica was about to answer Captain Elang’s question when a system window suddenly blocked her view.

It seemed this would constitute revealing future secrets.

“Well, I can’t tell you about it, but I can let you taste it. How about it? Want one?”

“Then I’ll gratefully accept.”

Captain Elang took the jelly Sir Dominica offered and popped it into his mouth.

As a subtle sweetness spread throughout his mouth, Captain Elang somehow felt like he had recovered some of his stamina.

“…I feel energized! With how I feel now, I could go on indefinitely.”

“Good. Start when you’re ready.”

“We’re ready whenever you are.”

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica grinned as they watched Captain Elang’s renewed enthusiasm.

“Then let’s start right away! Strike while the iron is hot!”

Captain Elang said this as he pressed the round start button.

…

Behind the stage.

Here, under the guidance of the system, was a place that created monsters hostile to the commander and his echelon.

A place where goblins, orcs, trolls, and ogres were mass-produced as the conveyor belt, with machines spewing steam, covered and uncovered them.

In the control room overlooking all of this, a civil servant was spending his boring time almost leaning back in his chair.

“Hey! There, there! Shoot! Oh my goodness, that damned thing!”

…While watching a soccer match from Retro Grad.

Naturally, this place was maintained by System Industries and managed by the Executive branch.

Everything was so automated that there was hardly any need for management personnel, but the Executive branch always insisted on stationing at least one civil servant on duty at this factory.

“Ah! How is that offside… Huh? Wait. What’s this? There’s a request?”

The civil servant, who had been cursing the five-eyed referee for making a bad call, suddenly noticed that someone had made a special request.

“Hard mode request…?”

That’s right.

Do you remember the lever that Park Chun-bae pulled?

That lever was a system that changed the level system from Normal to Hard.

Originally, the lever and the hard mode were supposed to be revealed after passing through several more areas, but due to Park Chun-bae’s intervention, the hard mode was exposed to the world much earlier than expected.

And that was the reason why the civil servant needed to be here.

To deal with such absurd situations, they had stationed personnel who could handle these situations better than a system that would simply process requests.

The civil servant should have immediately rejected this request.

If the request continued to come in after rejection, he was supposed to report to his superiors, assess the situation, and only then decide whether to approve or reject the request.

However, the civil servant on duty today was distracted by the soccer match, and being inexperienced in handling such situations for the first time led to disaster.

“Um… in this case… Huh? Whoa? Wow! Goal! Yes! Oh yeah! Yeah!”

The civil servant was about to check the manual for how to handle this situation when the team he was supporting scored a spectacular goal on screen.

“Ah, whatever! Bartender! One cider here! Yes!”

And completely losing his mind over that goal, the civil servant pressed the accept button on the request that had appeared before him.

“Huh? Wait. Wasn’t there a request message here just now?”

The civil servant, after celebrating with all his might, suddenly remembered that there had been a hard mode request.

“Ah, who cares! The goal is more important! What could possibly go wrong?”

The civil servant cheered again, celebrating the recent goal.

Below him, the conveyor belts and machines paused momentarily before starting to move again.

Spewing steam and engine noise twice, no, three times stronger than before.

…

Round 42.

As Captain Elang pressed the start button, monsters began pouring out of the gate.

The monsters were similar to those in round 41, but there seemed to be a few more of them.

Goblins, orcs, trolls, and occasionally ogres.

The gate spat out monsters one at a time, but their numbers had already reached into the hundreds.

Sir Dominic immediately rushed at the monsters and struck the face of the orc at the front with his shield.

The orc’s tusks shattered and flew through the air.

“Hmph.”

Sir Dominic laughed ominously.

As if he was very happy.

The same was true for Sir Dominica.

Sir Dominica aimed her gun at a group of goblins and slowly pulled the trigger.

As [Shock and Awe] was cast, the group of goblins fell into a stunned state, blocking the movement of monsters coming from behind.

At this unexpected goblin wall, some impatient monsters began trampling over the goblins, who were their allies, and advancing.

It truly looked like Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica were the two of them holding back an evil army!

Captain Elang watched Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica and clicked his tongue in admiration at how amazing they were.

“…Huh?”

Just then, Captain Elang suddenly realized that something was wrong with the gate.

The gate, which had been glowing blue, suddenly turned red.

Why? Why did the gate suddenly change? As Captain Elang tilted his head in confusion…

The gate spat out a new monster, different from the goblins, orcs, trolls, and ogres it had been releasing until now.

Scales covering its entire body despite having no wings. Blunt yet sharp teeth. Vertically slit pupils.

It was none other than—

“…A dinosaur?”

A dinosaur… no, a drake.